SHARE

If you’re old enough, you remember the days when “cafeteria ladies” had a craft and the food at school was hand made, right down to the dinner rolls. After decades of moving away from that proud tradition, districts are slowly returning to it. In Maryland, a stand-out “boot camp” for food service workers statewide teaches basic cookery, nutrition science, professional kitchen protocols, and much more. It’s a model for training programs that are emerging all over the nation as schools work their way forward (and back) to more real, fresh food in the cafeteria. This program was brought to you by White Oak Pastures.

“The folks that attend our training are trained on how to train and then there’s a ripple effect.” [05:30]

–Stewart Eidel on Inside School Food

“We’re trying to be catalysts for the local economy and jump-start it through economic development. which is just a sidebar to all this [school food initiative]” [35:00]

–Jeffrey Proulx on Inside School Food

“Anybody can heat anything up regardless of technique – but to actually have to chop vegetables or whatever the recipe calls for – gives me more pride.” [36:00]